King Charles has returned for one of the most important events in the royal calendar that he was forced to miss last year due to his cancer diagnosis. Today, he and Queen Camilla have been at Durham Cathedral to attend the traditional Maundy Thursday service.
The ceremony is a major fixture on the royal calendar and the monarch, who is the head of the Church of England, presents specially minted coins to people recognised for their community service. Camilla stood in for her husband at last year’s Maundy Thursday service which was held at Worcester Cathedral while he was undergoing treatment.
But today, the King is handing out Maundy Money to 76 men and 76 women – one for each year of his life – to thank them for their “outstanding Christian service”, Buckingham Palace said. The recipients will be presented with two purses, one red and one white, containing Maundy Money.
The white purse contains newly-minted coins while the red one has a £5 coin commemorating the Queen Mother and a 50p coin featuring Second World War stories. The service, which used to feature the monarch washing the feet of the poor as Jesus did.
Lord High Almoner, the Right Reverend Graham Usher, who is the Bishop of Norwich, told recipients before the Maundy service at Durham Cathedral: “It is an act of humility on behalf of the monarch.” Before the service, the Dean of Durham, Very Reverend Philip Plyming said: “Maundy Thursday is about remembering the service and sacrifice of Jesus and it will be so special to celebrate in such a memorable way those who live out the example of Jesus today.”
The King’s attendance at the service at Durham Cathedral today comes as he wrote about humanity’s “great cruelty and great kindness” in an emotional message to mark Maundy Thursday. In his 2025 Easter message, the King said Jesus’ actions were a “token of His love that knew no bounds or boundaries and is central to Christian belief”.
“The love He showed when He walked the Earth reflected the Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need, a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, and in the hearts of all who seek the good of others,” he went on.
“The abiding message of Easter is that God so loved the world, the whole world, that He sent His son to live among us to show us how to love one another, and to lay down His own life for others in a love that proved stronger than death.
“There are three virtues that the world still needs, faith, hope and love. ‘And the greatest of these is love’.” Charles also said humanity is “capable of both great cruelty and great kindness”.
“This paradox of human life runs through the Easter story and in the scenes that daily come before our eyes, at one moment, terrible images of human suffering and, in another, heroic acts in war-torn countries where humanitarians of every kind risk their own lives to protect the lives of others,” he continued.
“A few weeks ago, I met many such people at a reception in Buckingham Palace and felt a profound sense of admiration for their resilience, courage and compassion.”
The Royal Family’s Easter celebrations will continue on Sunday when the King and Queen will lead other members of the family at the traditional Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
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